


A Surprise Visit

by caerynlae



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Light-Hearted, Pre-Relationship, Season 2, just some fun, light - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2020-02-04 16:59:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18608725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caerynlae/pseuds/caerynlae
Summary: Oliver Queen’s life is anything but average. But when Felicity’s two old childhood friends come for a surprise visit, they meet him as just another guy. Albeit a very hot guy who is clearly maybe possibly definitely Felicity’s boyfriend. How long till they learn about all the labels usually assigned to Oliver? And can Felicity and Oliver keep their green secret and finally convince the two that they arenota couple?





	1. Visitors

Felicity was just changing from her work outfit into a more casual one while she was contemplating if she was in the mood for Chinese food tonight, when suddenly there is a knock at her door.

Startled, she pauses in the middle of putting her socks on. Who would knock at her door at this time?

Oliver never comes through the front door. He prefers to scale the side of the building and enters via the fire escape outside her bedroom window. She might not live in the most upscale neighbourhood, but Oliver Queen entering and leaving her apartment building late at night several times a week, would probably still draw attention, attention they didn’t want on them.

But who knows, maybe he has his reason for using the door today. So Felicity finishes putting her sock on and walks over to open the door.

Throwing it open, she quickly finds out that it’s not Oliver standing there. Instead, she is looking at her two best friends from childhood, Jennifer Lewis and Stephanie O’Hare.

She blinks, once, twice, just to make sure she is not hallucinating, but yep, that is clearly them.

“Surprise!” Both of them shout in unison before tackling a still stunned Felicity in a group hug.

She is quickly trying to recover, because really, she often deals with stranger things than her best childhood friends suddenly showing up at her doorstep, so why is she even so stunned?

So she hugs them back and starts questioning them, “What are you guys doing here? I didn't expect you to suddenly show up in Starling!”

She pulls back to look at them expectantly.

“Well, as you know, Steph and I are teachers at our old school now.” Jen starts, but is quickly interrupted by impatient Steph, who loves to cut off Jen’s often long-winded explanations.

“There is a teacher’s advanced workshop programme in Starling this week that we’ve been sent to last minute.”

Jen, who hates being interrupted, grumpily looks at Steph, before picking back up. “So we figured, we’d surprise you!”

Felicity paints on a grin. “Well, consider me officially surprised!”

She ushers her two friends into the living room, but internally her thoughts are racing.

A week. That could be problematic with her usual nightly work. Although things had been quiet lately, hence also their decision to have a quiet night tonight, instead of their usual patrolling.

With Dig and Roy deciding to take their respective partner’s out for a date, Oliver and Felicity had decided to spent their evening together watching TV and eating take-out.

Felicity visibly shakes herself, these thoughts could wait for later. Focusing back on the present, she watches as Steph and Jen look around her living room.

Just as Jen points at the Robin Hood poster on her wall, she hears a voice much more familiar to her.

“So, Felicity, I figured we could order some Chinese tonight. We haven’t had any in at least two weeks.”

As per their usual routine, Oliver had let himself in through her bedroom window.

So it is no surprise to Felicity, when suddenly a 6-foot-something blond with slightly tousled hair and clad in nicely fitting designer jeans, complemented by a dark grey henley, suddenly appears through her bedroom door.

Steph and Jen however, pause in shock, looking at Oliver like kids who just found the biggest and best candy in the candy store.

Yea, this wasn’t going to be easy to explain.

How do you tell your childhood best friends that your boss, who also happens to be your best friend, loves to enter your apartment via your bedroom window with his vigilante ninja skills, because he is a famous billionaire in town and the two of you want to avoid any further rumours?

And of course, this would be the timing. Why couldn’t have Oliver been 5 minutes earlier or her old friends 5 minutes later?

Clearly, Murphy's law was still in effect.

Oliver is looking at her in confusion now, and she tries to convey her sorry via a wiggle of eyebrows, which probably just ends up looking stupid instead. But Oliver’s lip quirks up in amusement, so she’ll take it.

Taking a deep breath, Felicity starts introductions.

“Uh, Oliver, these are Steph and Jen, childhood friends here on a surprise visit.”

Immediately changing tracks, Oliver paints his public mask on and smiles a big but definitely fake smile as he steps closer to shake their hands and introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Oliver, nice to meet you both.”

“Yes, very nice to meet you as well, Oliver. Felicity never mentioned a boyfriend in her phone calls, else we would’ve phoned ahead.” Steph shakes his hand a bit too enthusiastically, while her eyes clearly wander up and down Oliver’s body.

Felicity closes her eyes in embarrassment. She’s the first to admit that Oliver is definitely worth staring at, especially knowing what he looks like shirtless, but did Steph have to be so obvious about it?

Then what Steph actually said registers with Felicity and she quickly stammers, “Oh, no, no, no.. Oliver is not my boyfriend, just a very good friend.”

Jen looks at her critically and scoffs. “Yea, right, he just walked out of your bedroom. You don’t have to hide it from us, but why are you keeping your relationship secret in the first place?”

Trying to help out, Oliver speaks up. “No, really, we are just friends. I was in the bedroom because I had spilt some water on my shirt and had to get changed.”

He smiles his charming billionaire playboy smile, while Felicity nods enthusiastically, hoping the lie will stick.

That was a plausible excuse, right? After all, Oliver did keep a change of clothes in her closet, just in case he ever had to come here in his Arrow outfit and needed a change of normal close.

But Steph just squeals as Jen continues. “Oh, wow, you are at the shared-drawer stage already! Why did you not say anything?”

Jen’s got a point, now that she thought about it.

Why would a platonic male friend have a change of clothes in your bedroom? You know, except if your platonic male friend is a bow-wielding vigilante that sometimes crashes at your place because he is too injured to make it to his own home? Mansion really, but whatever. Unimportant details, focus Felicity, she admonishes herself.

Oh frack, Oliver’s cover stories really hadn’t gotten any better and she apparently got sucked so into his vortex that she didn’t even realise that hers where just as bad.

But Oliver has experience in smoothing over awkward cover story mishaps, so he isn’t frozen to the spot like Felicity is. “Well, we are going to order take-out and watch TV. Would you ladies like to join us for that?”

Jen narrows her eyes at Felicity, that clearly say that Felicity is not of the hook yet, but Steph nods enthusiastically. She is always up for food even though she is a PE teacher and likes to harp on about staying in shape. “Yep, sounds good, I’m too tired after the flight to get all dressed up for a restaurant tonight.”

Taking a deep breath, Felicity looks at Oliver with a small smile. “Oliver, Chinese does sound good, would you mind ordering while we pick a movie? Maybe just get a little bit of everything?”

 

* * *

 

A little bit of everything turned out be a _lot_ of _literally_ everything.

All four of them were settled around the living room table. Glasses of red wine were strategically placed in between the take-out boxes. The romantic comedy that they had finally settled on, was playing in the background.

Felicity looks at the mountain of food. “Did you order the whole restaurant?” How much food did he think they would need?

Oliver just looks at her innocently. “Well, I just told them to get us a box of every item on the menu. Because, you said a little bit of everything, right?”

Felicity closes her eyes in despair. Never let a billionaire order take-out, seriously.

“Oliver, that was a figure of speech. I just meant get a nice selection so that there are some options for everyone. You know, like one chicken dish, one beef and so on.”

Now Oliver narrows his eyes at her. “Why didn’t you just say that then?”

Felicity throws her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Never mind, let’s just dig in and whatever we can’t finish, we’ll store as leftovers.”

Jen and Steph are already happily munching away as they watch the exchange with small grins on their faces.

Steph waves with her chopsticks. “See, you guys even bicker like a long-term couple. How long have you known each other?”

Jen, always one for gossip, leans forward. “Yep, and tell us how you met!”

Oliver and Felicity glance at each other, trying to silently agree on a story that can be told without revealing any secrets.

“Well, Oliver spilt a latte on his laptop. It was basically 12 months ago, right?” Felicity looks at Oliver. Had it really been just a year? It felt so much longer than that. But that’s what happens, when you go through life endangering situations with each other nearly daily, Felicity figures.

Oliver was still rooting through take-out boxes, looking for a specific one. “Yep, and I heard that the best person in the IT department to help me, would be Felicity. So that’s where I went and we have been friends ever since.”

Felicity passes Oliver the box he is looking for, low-carb with mainly veggies and a few pitiful slices of chicken. She tries to suppress her grimace that says “you health freak”, but the twinkle in Oliver’s eyes lets her know she was unsuccessful as he happily accepts the box.

“Aha, an office romance! Is that why you keep it a secret? Is it not allowed at your workplace?” Jen's is nodding in satisfaction as if she finally figured out a big mystery.

Oliver had finally started eating, but chokes on the first bite upon hearing Jen. Felicity wonders if he choked because of the term “office romance” or because he probably can’t remember the last time someone didn’t know that he is Oliver Queen, CEO of QC and all-round known celebrity in Starling.

Trying to be helpful, Felicity absentmindedly rubs Oliver's back, while attempting to fix the wrong assumptions. Again.

“No, no Oliver didn’t actually work at QC when we met.”

“Then, how comes you went to QC’s IT department to get your laptop fixed, Oliver?” Steph questions him innocently.

Felicity can’t help but laugh at the bemused look on Oliver’s face. Yep, he is definitely not used to people not knowing who he is. But knowing him, she is sure that he actually likes that. For once, he gets to be just another guy hanging out with people and is not immediately labelled as the billionaire playboy, the castaway or the CEO.

So Felicity decides to divert the attention. “Oliver knows the person who was CEO at the time.”

Trying to change the topic away from them, Felicity continues, “So, what do you have planned for your week in Starling?”

Jen grabs another box of food as she explains. “Well, we are stuck at the workshop during the day, but we were hoping we could hang out in the evenings and you could show us the highlights of Starling.”

It’s just like Felicity feared, what excuse could she deliver that suitably explains why she isn’t available on evenings because she is the IT hacker for Starling’s vigilante?

Before she can come up with an excuse, Oliver surprises her. “Sounds like a great idea, Felicity has been working too much lately anyway.”

Felicity furrows her brows. “But, Oliver, you know that I have to work to get the thing done.”

Oliver grins at her lame excuse of having to ‘get the thing done’. “How about, you do some sightseeing in the early evening and I’ll get some week passes for Verdant so you can finish off the evening there.”

Felicity grudgingly admits that is not too bad a plan. “Yea, okay, that works.”

“What’s Verdant?” Steph questions and Felicity realises again how little Steph and Jen truly know about her life now and how they literally know nothing about Starling.

“It’s a nightclub that my sister works at. I’ll ask her to add you to the list for the week if you want.”

The way he phrases it, confirms for Felicity that Oliver is happy playing it vague for now, enjoying getting to meet someone without them assigning him various labels beforehand. He could’ve easily said 'the nightclub my sister runs', or even 'the nightclub that I own'. Well, they would learn soon enough, with them staying in Starling for a week, Felicity figures. She’ll let Oliver have his fun.

Jen nearly bounces up and down in her seat. “That sounds awesome.”

After that the conversation drifts off to innocuous topics. Steph and Jen happily catch Felicity up on all the gossip she missed about their old Vegas friends and neighbourhood. Felicity tells some general stories that do not touch too closely on their work, day or night time. And Oliver mostly listens while occasionally throwing in a quip, mostly to tease Felicity.

Felicity knows he still has masks up. He is only ever truly himself when he does not have to keep the Arrow part of is personality a secret. But she still gets the impression that he is enjoying himself. She can see that, despite having only met him, Steph and Jen get to see a more open and genuine Oliver Queen than anyone else in Starling has seen since Oliver’s return.

At around 12, Oliver gets antsy however and Felicity knows, if they were alone, he would ask her to run some checks on her computer. So she isn’t surprised, when he gets up. “Thanks for the nice evening everyone, but it’s time for me to head home. Thea is probably expecting me.”

It’s a lie. Thea is probably not even home herself, never mind trying to keep tabs on her brother who keeps the oddest hours. But it works as an excuse to get out of here and into the lair to check up on police reports.

Steph looks startled. “Wait. Thea? I thought you were with Felicity?”

Felicity groans in exasperation. She had really hoped her friends had given up on that ridiculous notion.

“Ah, Thea is my sister actually.”

Jen looks at him critically. “Huh, wouldn’t have pegged you for someone who still lives at home.”

“Well, if you knew where he lived..” Felicity mumbles quietly under her breath. But the amused puff of laughter from Oliver let’s here know that it wasn’t quiet enough for his ninja hearing.

More loudly, Felicity tries to let Oliver know, that if he does decide to hood up tonight, he should most certainly let her know first. “Well, please let _Thea_ know that if she has any further IT problems that she can call me _any time_.”

Oliver returns her stare and gives her a small nod, message understood. “Felicity, does the usual time work tomorrow or do you want to start later?”

Because her apartment lies nearly enroute to the office anyway, Dig and Oliver had taken to picking her up in the mornings. Traffic in downtown at that time was usually bad and the spacious interior of the Bentley allowed Oliver and Felicity start planning their day, while Dig drove.

Felicity smiles brightly. “The usual time is fine, just make it an extra large coffee please.” Oliver had taken to bringing her coffee in the morning, ever since the machine at the office got broken, violently. If Felicity’s smile towards him is slightly vicious, he doesn’t comment on it.

Instead, he simply nods at everyone and with a “Goodnight, ladies” he spins around and for the first time that Felicity can remember, Oliver actually leaves through her front door.

As soon as the door closes, Steph and Jen squeal and start babbling. “Oh wow, he is so hot, why didn’t you tell us, Felicity?” and “You got to tell us everything, I want all the details!”

And Felicity just groans in embarrassment, because, yea, the walls are thin and knowing Oliver’s super hearing, he just totally heard that.

This was going to be a long night and Felicity is sure not even an extra large coffee will be enough to perk her up in the morning.


	2. Table Salt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tonight Felicity and Oliver, together with Felicity's childhood friends Jen and Steph, go to Table Salt. Can they pull of an Arrow mission over dessert? Will Jen and Steph figure something out? Although they probably shouldn't have gone to Table Salt if they want Oliver's wealth to stay a secret.

 

Felicity was typing away on her phone as she is waiting for her friends to show up, both Oliver and her two friends from childhood, Steph and Jen, visiting for a surprise visit.

This morning, Felicity woke up more exhausted than she can remember being in a long time. And that is saying something, considering how often her nights are spent in an adrenaline rush as she hacks into federal databases, guides Oliver's mission via the coms and more often than she likes, she rounds off the evening by patching up an injured Oliver.

But her childhood friends grilled her about Oliver well into the night and that is clearly more exhausting. Through some sheer miracle, she hadn't messed up and revealed anything sensitive and she could only hope that she could keep that going the entire week.

While Jen and Steph had crashed in her living room last night, at least they would spend their nights at a hotel from now on. This way Felicity will hopefully be able to at least still spent some time working on Arrow missions this week.

For once, favour had been on her side this morning and Jen and Steph had left already before Dig parked the Bentley at her curb. At least the discussion of Oliver's apparent wealth is tabled until later.

While she stayed away from all Arrow related topics last night, she also hadn't yet let slip about Oliver's celebrity status in Starling and everything it entailed.

She saw last night how much Oliver enjoyed being just another guy. (Albeit a very hot and attractive one, as Jen and Steph wouldn't let her forget. As if she could, she regularly watches the guy work out shirtless for frak's sake!)

Also, she will freely admit, she is looking forward to when and how Jen and Steph finally figure out that there is more than meets the eye with Oliver. It should be amusing, as long as the green secret stays safe of course.

Felicity is ripped out of her musings by the undeniable squeal of Jennifer as she and Steph hop of a bus and spot her down the road.

Work at QC had delayed her, so Jen and Steph had done some sightseeing on their own. Now they were meeting up for dinner, at Table Salt out of all places.

It was Oliver's suggestion and while she refused at first (the place doesn't even list prices next to the food!), she agreed when he threw his best puppy dog look at her and somehow convinced her, he owes her a treat for making her his executive assistant. And she definitely couldn't argue with that, he owes her a lot more than a fancy dinner, considering all the stupidity of various people she now has to deal with daily. In the IT department the only people who disturbed her where fellow IT workers asking (more or less) interesting IT related questions.

“Wow, this place looks fancy.” Jennifer can't keep the excited grin off her face as she and Steph join Felicity at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the restaurant.

Felicity takes a moment to look at the restaurant, trying to see it the way Jen seems to be seeing it. She agrees it looks nice and she suddenly realises the Felicity of a year ago would've probably never have considered dining at such a nice restaurant.

But after various investor dinners, city galas and several sleepovers at the Queen Mansion, she has to admit with fascinated horror that somewhere along the line she got at least partially sucked into Oliver's world.

“Jen is right, I can't believe you invited us to a place this fancy!” Steph is bouncing on her feet, ready to race up the steps.

With a slight shrug, Felicity starts up the stairs. “The dessert menu is to die for and I know you both have a sweet tooth. And don’t worry about the prices, Oliver promised to pay.”

They look at her stunned, but before they can ask any questions, Felicity’s strategically spins around and heads up the stairs.

As they enter Jen and Steph look around in awe and Felicity wishes they would at least try to be inconspicuous about it. Luckily the hostess recognises her and approaches them with a smile. “Ms Smoak, is the table for 4 still correct?”

“Yes, it is, thank you. Oliver should be here shortly.”

“Of course, shall I show you to your table or would you like to wait here?”

“The table would be perfect, thank you.”

Felicity has to gently interrupt the excited but luckily quiet whispering of Steph and Jen, so they can follow their hostess to the table.

It is their usual table at the far end of the restaurant with a clear view of all other tables, the window offering a view of the street and the emergency exit is just a few metres away. Unobtrusively, Felicity maneuvers Steph and Jen to the two chairs with their back towards the restaurant. She herself takes the seat next to the window, leaving the strategically most optimal chair to Oliver. He had explained his thinking to her the first time they were at Table Salt together.

“Didn't you say Oliver is coming as well?”

“Yes, he should be here shortly, he got held up at work.”

In reality, he stopped by the lair for a quick workout as a stress relief to the office day. Knowing how carried away Oliver can get, she already sent him a reminder 20 minutes ago, but of course it would be a complete miracle if Oliver Queen ever made it anywhere on time.

Jen and Steph were happily debating their food options, drawing Felicity into the conversation when they encountered several food names that they didn't understand.

They had finally all settled on their food choices, when they see a motorbike pull up in front of the restaurant.

Felicity smiles in amusement. Only Oliver would think it appropriate - and get away with it - to arrive at such high scale restaurant on a motorbike, while wearing a tux. He might have been stranded on an island for five years, but that doesn't stop his previous attitude to show through occasionally that only someone growing up with too much money can pull off so effort- and cluelessly.

She can see the hostess frown at Oliver as he approaches the restaurant, only slowly taking his helmet off as he confidently ascends the stairs.

By the time he enters the restaurant, he has his official Queen smile firmly in place.

When the hostess recognises him, she quickly smooths over her disapproving frown and greets him with a welcoming smile instead, all of sudden happily offering to store the motorbike helmet for him.

Felicity sighs in exasperation. It's ridiculous how everyone treats Oliver in this city.

Public persona firmly in place, Oliver charms his way through the restaurant before finally arriving at their table.

“Hi, Oliver.” Steph happily chirps.

“Hello, beautiful ladies.” Oliver clearly is refusing to slip off his public mask with the hostess still hovering in the background.

“Wow, I didn't realize you were such a charmer.” Jennifer exclaims.

Felicity can't decide what is more hilarious. The surprised look on Jen's face, the deer-in-the-headlights look from Oliver or the incredulous one on the hostess face, who was obviously well aware of Oliver reputed charming personality.

Oliver slides into his chair with ease, gently squeezing Felicity's shoulder in both greeting and thanks for arranging his preferred chair.

“We just finished deciding what to order. Do you want your usual, Oliver?”

Oliver nods in acknowledgement. He always orders a steak, medium rare, and a double portion of grilled broccoli, refusing both the sauce and the mashed potatoes typically offered alongside. As always, Felicity’s crunches her face up in disgust as he places his order. How can he cancel all the good stuff in the dish and replace it with an extra portion of broccoli?

After all orders are taken, Steph looks at Oliver. “Isn’t medium rare where the steak is still bloody?”

Felicity nods with a grimace, but Oliver tries to defend his choice. “It’s not bloody anymore, that would be called bleu. Also tastes good, but Felicity doesn’t like it when I order it."

“Yep, that much blood is clearly not supposed to be on a dinner plate. I see enough blood as it is.” Felicity rolls her eyes at Oliver, but pauses when she sees the look on his face.

Replaying the words in her head, she realises what she just admitted to.

“Where do you see blood regularly?” Steph queries with a puzzled frown on her face.

“I don’t. I meant, you know, the normal amount of blood that someone happens to see. Like in a paper cut or..”

As Felicity tries to salvage the situation, but all she can think about is the blood stain in her car that never came out. Or the number of clothes she had thrown away in the last year because she got blood on them as she was patching Oliver up. Or how there is actually a bag of Oliver’s blood at her flat, at the office and, of course, in the lair for worst case scenarios.

Thankfully, Oliver cuts her off before her rambling takes a dangerous turn. For a change, he even has a surprisingly good cover story. “Felicity is a first aider at the office, so people often come to her with accidental cuts, like from a kitchen knife or something.”

Felicity nods in agreement.

“But you hate blood, you used to faint at the sight of it when we were kids, why would you volunteer to be a first aider?” Steph still has that puzzled frown on her face.

Now it’s Oliver’s turn to look at her in surprise. “Really? Why did you never say anything?”

How is she supposed to answer Oliver without revealing anything? And what cover story would convince Steph?

As they all glance at her curiously, Felicity frantically tries to come up with a cover story. Now she realises why Oliver’s cover stories always sucked so much, it really wasn’t easy.

So Felicity tries to go with a version of the truth.

“There was an incident at work, nearly a year ago.” She glances at Oliver, noticing his eyes widen in surprise.

“As I was leaving, late at night, someone was shot just outside the building. The attacker luckily immediately ran away. But I was the only person there to help.”

Felicity swallows heavily as pictures of that night rise up in her mind.

“There was so much blood, and I didn’t know what to do.” She squeezes her eyes shut, hoping to suppress the memories of that night. She realises she was quiet for too long, when she feels Oliver’s hand grip her own.

Taking a deep breath, she opens her eyes again, flashing Oliver a small smile as he looks at her in concern. “After that night, I was swore to myself to study first aid, so I never have to feel that helpless again.” Technically her first aid study was very hands-on and taught by a military field medic, but they obviously didn’t need to know that part.

Steph and Jen look at her stunned. “Wow, that’s crazy. The shot person survived, right?” Jen, despite her gossiping tendencies, is genuinely concerned.

At the reminder, how easily she could’ve lost Oliver that night, Felicity squeezes her eyes shut again.

“I’m completely fine.”

At Oliver’s admission, Felicity’s eyes fly back open in surprise. She wasn’t planning on revealing that the person shot was Oliver.

She is even more surprised, when he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her towards his chest. Usually they are careful to keep a certain distance in public.

“Wait,” Steph looks stunned again, “the person shot was you, Oliver?”

“Yes, nothing but a scar left now.” With a last squeeze, Oliver releases her again.

“It’s my favourite.” Felicity mumbles under her breath, but not quiet enough.

Oliver huffs in amusement. “You have a favourite?”

“Yep.” Busted, Felicity figures she might as well admit to it and shoots him a quick grin.

“Favourite? How many do you have?” Jen’s question might have been meant innocently but Felicity can’t help but wince internally.

“No, no, what I want to know is, how do you know all this Felicity? You keep claiming you are just friends and I clearly see no scars from where I’m sitting.”

“That is a very good question..” Felicity trails off trying to buy herself some time to come up with a good excuse why she regularly sees her boss shirtless because he happens to be the city’s vigilante and they happen to share a lair where she is busy hacking into federal databases as he works out.

“I like to work out shirtless and Felicity is just around sometimes.” That was for once not too bad of a safe, Felicity figures.

This time when she mumbles under breath, she makes sure its quieter. “Shirtless. Shirtless all the time.” But when she hears Oliver’s puff of amusement, she realises it was yet again not quiet enough. She should really stop mumbling embarrassing tidbits around Oliver. But who was she kidding, her lack of brain to mouth filter has always been particularly bad around him.

Thankfully, with the arrival of their entrées, the conversation moves to safer grounds and they easily recover the easy banter from the previous night.

The empty plates from their main course had just been picked up, when Felicity’s tablet buzzes with the tone she has assigned for Arrow related emergencies.

Imperceptible to everyone else but obvious to her, Oliver immediately tenses next to her, switching into high alert mode.

With a few tabs, Felicity retrieves the relevant information. More used to speak in code for Arrow missions, she for once has no trouble coming up with a good cover. “There is an investor who urgently needs to talk to you about the arms contract that we decided to not take. You should leave immediately and I'll send all relevant meeting files to your phone.”

Read: Go stop an known arms dealer that we have been tracking and who's GPS signal suddenly popped up close by and the exact location and further information will be on Oliver's phone by the time he is suited up.

Oliver gives her a quick nod of understanding.

“I'm sorry, ladies, but duty calls. You enjoy your rest of the night and I'll see you tomorrow at Verdant.”

He stands up and buttons his suit jacket. “Felicity, you have my card with you, correct?”

Pausing long enough to see her quick nod, Oliver then heads out of the restaurant.

“His card as in you have his credit card?” Steph wastes no time questioning.

For Felicity it is nothing new. They had established their routine a while ago. Whenever Oliver has to leave for an Arrow related emergency, she'd stay behind and take over all CEO related duties, including the payment. But again she startles to the realisation how strange this must all seem to her friends.

“Yes, like I said, we are best friends, we trust each other.”

This time Jen chimes in. “Trust, sure, but you still don't hand out credit cards to your best friends. That's something partners do, not best friends.”

Well, Jen's got a point, Felicity muses. She and Oliver were definitely partners, a team, at QC and at their night job. If you run a multi-billion company together and trust each other with your literal life night after night, sharing a credit card seems so insignificant in comparison. Especially for someone like Oliver, who has more money than he knows what to do with.

But before Felicity can try to come up with a more plausible story that doesn’t involve arrows or hacking, her phone rings again, this time with Oliver's unique ringtone.

So Felicity quickly excuses herself, claiming a work related emergency and retreats to a secluded corner of the restaurant, which she by now knows more intimately than she'd like to admit.

Clipping her ear piece in, she quickly retrieves Oliver's requested information with her high end, top of the line tablet.

Leaving the earpiece in, just in case, she makes her way back to the table.

As Steph and Jen happily devour their desserts, Felicity has to fight to keep her tension from showing.

A spoon full of creamy chocolate mousse is accompanied by several gunshots transmitted via earpiece.

“What's wrong, Felicity, you look really tense all of sudden?” Jen pauses with her spoon halfway to her mouth.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief when she hears the familiar sound of several arrows releasing, Felicity can now paint a smile on her face more easily. “Nothing is wrong, just feeling a bit guilty for eating such a rich dessert.”

Jen nods in understanding, but Steph narrows her eyes, probably trying to remember the last time Felicity worried about eating too much dessert and coming up short.

Luckily Steph is distracted by Jen animatedly launching into a story and Felicity can finish off her dessert in peace, with just the occasional grunt of pain in the background.

Oliver informs her about the success of the mission, just as they are getting ready to leave. Felicity really wishes she could head to the foundry and see for herself that he is fine. But the girls already roped her into a nightcap at their hotel.

As Steph and Jen put on their jackets, Felicity quickly uses the opportunity to pay, preferring to not draw attention to the fact that the card she has is a black amex.

The taxi to take them to the hotel is already waiting and Felicity hopes she can beg off early, citing work, so that she can hopefully check on her programs running for their mission before retiring for the night.

As they climb into the taxi, Felicity realises it'll yet again be another long night as Steph and Jen again simultaneously start questioning her.

“So you do work with Oliver after all and that is the reason you keep your relationship hidden?”

Steph's question was bad enough, but it was nothing compared to what Felicity felt at Jen's next comment.

“That place was super fancy, does that make Oliver your sugar daddy?”

Another long night indeed.


	3. Verdant

Lights were flashing and the bass of the music was sending palpable shock waves through the floor. As much as Felicity preferred the quiet of the soundproof basement, even standing just inside the official entrance of Verdant felt a bit like coming home. The fact that Steph and Jen are standing next to her, gazing around in awe, makes her realize how much has changed. Back in her teenage days her two friends had to drag her out to a club. Now she felt at home in it, although of course only in this particular one.

She nods at Jamie, standing guard in the corner, and shouts a quick hello at Kevin as he lets her through to the VIP area with a raised eyebrow,not accustomed to her actually staying in the public areas of the club.

“Oh my god, Felicity, this place is am-aaah-zing” Jen is squealing in her ear which, despite the loud music, is very clearly audible without requiring that much volume.

“I agree, I can't believe your boyfriend's sister can just simply add us to the list in a place like this.” Steph is bouncing up and down in excitement. "Although I guess we established yesterday that he's got some money, inviting us to a place as fancy as Table Salt."

Felicity stifles a chuckle and leads her friends to her favourite table. As they sit down and pursue the cocktail menu, Felicity quickly provides her opinion on the individual choices.

Once they made their selection, she waves at Roy who smirks at her as he walks over to them.

“Heya, Blondie, fancy seeing you up here.” He greets her with his usual quip at her hair color.

Felicity just narrows her eyes at him and requests her usual while also rattling off her friends’ orders.

Before Roy can leave however, Steph queries, “what do you mean, up here, where does Felicity usual spend her time here?”

Roy looks so much like a deer caught in the head light that Felicity briefly contemplates feeling pity for him. But she quickly squashes down the feeling since Roy, although unknowingly, just contributed to the stack of lies she has to tell her friends.

“Uh, typically when I'm here I sort out the IT network in the basement, you know as a favour to Oliver since his sister works here.” Okay, Felicity was quickly starting to dislike all the lies she had to sell.

Roy, realizing when it's a good idea to make a strategic retreat,quickly scurries off to fetch their drinks.

While waiting for their drinks, Steph starts waving at someone at the other side of the room.

Knowing there's only one person she could be waving at, Felicity spins around to scan the masses for Oliver. Finding Oliver was never difficult because he typically drew the attention of the entire club when he makes an appearance. Sure enough, he is making his way towards their table with sure confident strides. All girls trying to intercept his path are conveniently sidestepped.

One look at his face and Felicity knows something is up. That's his serious business, Arrow face. The face that makes the tabloids speculate what playboy Ollie Queen might have seen on the island.

Once he reaches their table, Oliver only extends a quick perfunctory greeting towards Steph and Jen.

Felicity understands, Oliver is more the Arrow than Oliver Queen right now and she is one of the very few people who knows all facets of him. But she can see in their expressions that Steph and Jen don't understand. They look confused and taken aback at this side of Oliver.

Oliver, the man on a mission he is right now, does not notice anything amiss. He just leans in close to Felicity to make sure she can hear him over the loud music and yet at the same time ensuring no-one else can tell what he is saying.

Quickly he updates her on the results of the searches she had been running. Similarly quickly she realises that she will have to investigate further and plan the mission as Oliver suits up and makes his way to the location.

Determinedly ignoring the way it might look to her friends, she smiles at Oliver and takes his hand as she lets him pull her towards the foundry. She realises that the last thing her friends would see is Oliver and her disappearing through a backdoor, but her mind is too focused on the upcoming mission to worry about that.

* * *

 

An hour and a half later, they are finally ready to emerge from the foundry. Mission successfully completed, but both exhausted from the effort, they share one resolute look before putting their game faces on and making their way back to the table where Steph and Jen are probably still at.

They both know there is only one lie that will convincingly sell their disappearance. Neither of them however dares to acknowledge it out aloud. Still, partners that they are, they determinedly walk back out into the public area of Verdant.

As they approach the table, Felicity can tell when they are spotted. Steph quickly elbows Jen and both turn to look at them, sporting identical knowing grins.

Once they are in shouting distance, they don't have to wait long for Jen to talk. “How kind of you to rejoin us, that must've been one hell of a romp.”

By the way her eyes gleam, Felicity knows Jen didn't stop at that first cocktail they ordered.

“Sorry, ladies, there was a slight IT problem that needed Felicity's attention immediately.”

“I bet there was.” Steph's lewd grin made it very clear that she was not convinced that it was an _IT_ problem that needed Felicity's attention.

Except that it was, although an IT problem only vigilantes breaking and entering a high security building would have.

But even though Felicity knew what the assumption was going to be when they made their way back up from the foundry, it still didn't stop her cheeks from glowing red. Nor the other, very inconvenient images suddenly popping into her head.

Even suave, playboy-billionaire-mask Oliver clears his throat as if he is slightly uncomfortable. It makes Felicity's cheeks feel even warmer. Is the thought of them doing _that_ together really that horrible to him?

Really though, tonight makes clear that they need a better excuse than Felicity being here to fix IT problems.

As Felicity was still busy trying to get her game face to work as desired, she realizes she had been quiet for too long and Steph's and Jen's grins good even wider.

Felicity is still trying to come up with a good response, when suddenly Thea pops up next to their table. “Ollie, what gives us the honor that you grace us with your presence tonight?”

Without giving Oliver actually a chance to respond, Thea's clever eyes land on Felicity with a knowing look that makes Felicity feel uncomfortable.

"Oooh, you are here with Felicity.” Eyes back on Oliver, Thea continues, “did you finally man up and ask her out?"

Anyone less practiced in lying than Oliver would have probably started sputtering. But Oliver just raises an eyebrow questioningly at his sister.

“I was delivering some cocktails to these lovely ladies here and they told me all about it.”

 

_Flashback_

“And two margaritas for you!” Thea flourishingly places the two cocktails in front of the two women who Roy told her ordered the drinks. “Roy, your previous waiter, had to go handle an emergency, so I will be your waitress for the rest of the night, my name is Thea and if you need anything just let me know.”

Thea throws an easygoing grin at the two women, unaware of how much she looks like her brother when someone catches him in a rare unguarded moment.

One of the women, a petite redhead suddenly leans forward excitedly. “Wait, Thea as in Oliver's sister Thea?”

Thea barely suppresses her sigh of annoyance. The number of women chasing after her brother was ridiculous, especially since none of them knew the new Ollie who came back from the island. A very reserved and carefully poised person who never lets anyone in, as Thea had to learn the hard way.

She hates how he still pretends to be the same partying guy from before. But she hates all the superficial women chasing him for the Queen money even more.

“Yes, I'm his sister and no, I wont pass him your number.”

Now the other woman, a pretty brunette, also leans forward. “Oh no no no, we are friends with Felicity, we would never hit on her boyfriend.”

Now Thea pauses in surprise. Girlfriend? Ollie has a girlfriend? Felicity? The name rings a bell but she can't put her finger on it.

“Yea, they seem to be secretive about it however. Felicity didn't tell us about it either until we paid her a surprise visit and found Oliver at her place."

_Flashback End_

 

"How comes you didn't at least tell me?" Thea glances between Oliver and Felicity and Felicity thinks she can detect a tone of hurt under the cheerful demeanor.

Her friends thinking they are a couple is one thing, they'll be gone again in a week. But Felicity doesn't want Oliver to have to lie about even more to his sister.

"Sorry, Thea, it's all a misunderstanding, Oliver and I are just friends."

Steph raises an eyebrow and inconveniently buts in. "A good friend with whom you just disappeared in a back room with for the better part of an hour?"

After listening to Steph, Thea turns wide eyed back to Oliver. "Oliver Jonas, you'd better not have some kind of sex dungeon below this club!"

This time not even Oliver can hold onto his composure as both he and Felicity splutter in indignation.

"Thea! You are not even supposed to know such things exist!"

"Oh believe me, I learnt a lot while you where away, like there was this one time.."

Before Thea can continue her sentence, Oliver shoots up from his seat. "Oh look, Tommy is over there, needing my help."

Felicity spots Tommy in the distance, surrounded by a couple of women and definitely not looking like he needs any help whatsoever. But as Felicity turns her attention back to Oliver, he is already halfway across the room.

Thea sighs dramatically. "You know, for a supposed playboy, he really does get flustered easily."

Felicity can't suppress her chuckle, Thea really is a force to be reckoned with. "Sorry to break it to you, Thea, but I'm pretty sure that's how every older brother reacts when they have to realize the hard way that their sister is grown up." Felicity grins up at Thea and she can tell that Thea is pleased that Felicity considers her a grown up. Something, she is quite sure, Oliver still hasn't 100% reconciled with.

With a last wave Thea wanders back to the bar.

Steeling herself, Felicity can't decide if she is glad or not that Oliver isn't here for the interrogation Steph and Jen are bound to start now.

"Playboy? I knew there was something too good to be true about a guy like him." Jen starts as soon as Thea is out of earshot.

Felicity knows this is the image Oliver wants to sell to the world, but after the great last two days, she doesn't want Steph and Jen to think like that of him.

"No, no, he really isn't. Not anymore at least."

"So, you admit he was at some point?" Steph looks at Felicity seriously. "Felicity, guys like him don't change, no matter the lies he tells you."

Felicity doesn't quite understand why Steph is being so harsh all of sudden.

That is until she turns around and follows Steph's and Jen's line of vision.

She spots Tommy in the distance, doing a body shot off of some busty brunette. Apparently he is back to his usual antics after the breakup with Laurel.

Next to them, Oliver stands with his easy going playboy billionaire smile painted into place. There are two leggy models next to him, each hanging onto one of Oliver's biceps, as they bat their eye lashes at him.

Oliver's arms are crossed and Felicity can see the tension in his frame. The guy looks more relaxed when taking out a drug lord after a long chase. It's so obvious to Felicity that he'd rather be anywhere else, she really is baffled that everyone just buys the playboy mask.

She turns back with a slight sigh, wishing Oliver would feel comfortable enough to just be himself rather than pretending to be the same old Ollie.

Misinterpreting Felicity’s sigh, Jen looks at her with sadness in her eyes. "Seriously, Felicity, no matter how nice he might be, you deserve better than that."

How did she end up in this mess again? Now her friends are convinced fake-playboy Ollie is cheating in their non-existent relationship.

"Guys, for the last time, Oliver and I are just friends. He can flirt with whoever he likes."

"Well, after seeing that, I'm glad he isn't your boyfriend." Steph takes another slurp of her cocktail. "It's such a shame, he seemed so perfect for you the last two days."

Finally she convinced them that her and Oliver are not together, Felicity muses as she turns back around to look at Oliver. But sadly it seem to come at the price of their good opinion of Oliver.

Wishing once more, Oliver would feel comfortable enough to show his real personality to the world, she looks back over to him. One of the women now has her hand spread across Oliver's left pectoral, in the exact same spot where only a handful of people knew that this is where his Bratva tattoo resides.

Reminding herself again, that the privilege of knowing Oliver that well is priceless, she pushes away any potential jealousy that she shouldn't feel in the first place. Since they are just best friends, as she just clearly explained, again.

As the woman's hand keeps stroking, Oliver is still wearing his insincere Ollie smile. But suddenly Felicity had enough when she sees Oliver's right index finger and thumb rubbing together, a clear sign to her of his anxiety.

If he is that uncomfortable, he shouldn't have to stand there and let himself get groped at. As if his infamous playboy persona couldn't take a few hits.

Sighing, knowing exactly what it will look like, she still decides it is high time to rescue the big dummy.

That twinge of jealousy that isn't in her stomach plays no role in her decision, of course.

So Felicity gets up with a confidence in her step that she doesn't actually feel. But it's a gait she has perfected since becoming Oliver's EA.

She can feel Steph's and Jen's eyes on her as she walks across the room. Their set of eyes are joined by several others as her intended target becomes clear. She can tell that people are expecting some kind of scene.

Ignoring everyone else, Felicity focuses on Oliver instead and the relief she sees in his eyes is what gives her the strength to keep going.

As she draws closer, she can hear Oliver say, "excuse me ladies, but duty can't wait, a CEO has to be on call at all times." He flashes them an arrogant wink. If Felicity didn't know that it isn't real, she'd have to hit him at seeing such entitled behaviour. Instead she just rolls her eyes and falls into step with him as they leave the group of women, both quietly pretending to be speaking about important QC business.

As they get closer to their table, Felicity sees that Oliver noticed the frosty looks that Steph and Jen are throwing at him.

Felicity just hopes that now Steph and Jen finally know that Oliver and her aren’t a couple, they’ll forgive him for the behaviour they just witnessed.

But no matter how much she tries, Felicity can tell that the mood in their new group has shifted. So it is with some relief when Roy gets Oliver an hour later and the two head off to the foundry for another mission.


	4. Some Secrets Revealed

The next day, Felicity’s friends are once again staying at her place for the evening. After both Steph and Jen had too much to drink the previous night at Verdant, they decided they’d prefer a quiet night in.

Oliver begged off today, aware that Felicity’s friends are less than impressed with him since they saw him with his playboy mask up the previous day.

Felicity hopes that during the course of the evening, she can bring her friends around and convince them to give Oliver another chance. She liked the first two nights where her friends all got along with each other.

Currently, they are watching their second movie and are happily passing a bowl of popcorn around. Felicity is just contemplating the best strategy to persuade Steph and Jen to forgive Oliver, when her phone buzzes with Oliver’s tone.

_Your bedroom. Please._

Quickly she suppresses a gasp as to not alert Jen and Steph.

With a falsely cheerful voice, Felicity lets them know that she will be right back.

Hurrying to her bedroom, she can't help but mumble, "I wish he had texted that under different circumstances."

Quietly she opens the door, steps through quickly and closes it behind her.

Only then does she dare to look for Oliver.

He crashed on the right side of her bed, the side close to her window. The green of his arrow suit sharply contrasting with the pink of her duvet.

Wasting no further time, Felicity rushes to his side.

Oliver is holding himself up with an elbow and he raises his head as she approaches, their eyes connecting even though his are still partially hidden by his hood.

As she reaches him, she gently removes the hood so she can better gauge the seriousness of his state by looking at his expression.

"Oliver, where are you hurt?"

With a barely audible groan, he responds. "Took a knife to the backside of my left upper thigh. Your place was closest, sorry."

"Shh, no need to be sorry. Let me grab the first aid supplies and I'll be right back."

Quickly she makes her way to her bathroom where the emergency kit is stored. Quietly berating herself for not storing it in the bedroom. But she definitely did not anticipate Jen's and Steph's visit.

Grabbing the kit and a couple of towels to cover it, she makes her way back to the bedroom.

Suddenly Steph appears in the doorway. "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yea, nothing to worry about."

She scrambles with an excuse that will explain why she'll be gone for a while.

"Just, my neighbour's cat, it likes to sneak in through my bedroom window and this time it knocked over a vase. I'll just clean it up and will be right back."

Steph looks to be buying her lie. "Do you want help?"

Apparently she is buying the lie a bit too well.

"Uh, no, no worries, you relax with Jen and I'll be right back."

Now Steph is looking at her skeptically, but knowing time is of essence, Felicity takes a risk and spins around, once again heading to her bedroom.

She sighs a quiet sigh of relief, when all Steph does, is to say, "you should really lock your window. What if some dangerous guy came through instead?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Felicity can't help but snort in amusement. If only she knew that this is what happens regularly. Although, granted, the guy who likes to crawl through her bedroom window wasn't dangerous to _her_.

Once back in her bedroom, she finds Oliver has managed to take off the jacket and pants of his suit, leaving him in just his boxers.

Thankfully this isn't the first time she sees him in his boxers. After a year of patching him up, there were plenty of such situations. The first time it happened, she was glad it was in the foundry and Dig was patching him up because Felicity was sure she wouldn't have been able to treat Oliver without revealing something embarrassing.

But by now she was used to the sadly very platonic situation where it was a regular occurrence to see her boss nearly naked.

With quick practiced fingers, Felicity sets out to help Oliver. He wasn't kidding when he said backside of his upper thigh. Oliver wouldn't be able to reach that spot properly himself. And several previous scoldings from Felicity have dissuaded him to even try.

Still, typically the spots Felicity patches up are on his back. Not his upper thigh.

Felicity hopes he can't feel the slight tremble as she has to slightly push up his black boxer briefs to fully expose the cut.

However, except for a sharp hiss as the fabric comes loose, where it was stuck to partially dried blood, Oliver makes no sound. In fact, he holds himself unnaturally still, Felicity muses, usually Oliver likes to complain when she patches him up. She knows it's his way of dealing with the pain. So why was he so quiet this time?

Using some butterfly strips, Felicity quickly tapes the cut together. Thankfully, it didn't look like it would require stitches which would have certainly taken longer. Finishing with a bandage, Felicity sits back.

"All done, Mister. How about you just stay here for the night. If you hop back on the motorcycle it'll rip those butterfly strips straight off."

Oliver mumbles a quick agreement and makes no move to turn around, leaving Felicity puzzled, since it's usually impossible to get Oliver to stay put without arguing. She wonders, what is different tonight? Is he hurt worse than he is letting on?

"Oliver, is everything alright?"

Oliver raises himself up on one elbow and slightly twists around to look at Felicity. "I'm fine, just going to rest like you said. Go back to Steph and Jen."

The clear gaze and slight smile on Oliver's face convinces her that he is indeed fine. So she decides to head back to the living room before her friends come to investigate.

"Text me if you need anything."

She quietly closes the door behind her, still wondering what has Oliver in such an agreeable mood today. And why did he remain basically immobile on her bed even though he usually immediately moves around once patched up?

She shakes it off however as she enters the living room, focusing back on her friends and hoping she didn't arouse any suspicion after being gone for a while.

Thankfully Jen just happily updates her on the scenes she missed.

A short while later, just has Steph opened a bag of crisps, there is suddenly a loud crashing noise coming from her bedroom.

Alarmed, Jen and Steph sit up straight.

"What was that?" Jen queries.

Felicity jumps up from the sofa. "Uh, that's probably just the neighbour's ferret back again, knocking something else over."

Steph shoots her a look that Felicity can't read.

"Earlier you said it was the neighbour's cat."

Did she really?

All these cover stories where exhausting.

Taking a page from Oliver's book, she pretends nothing out of the ordinary is going on.

"Nothing to worry about, I'll just quickly shoo the pet out, I'll be right back."

Felicity is halfway to her bedroom, when Steph gets up as well.

"I'll come with you, just in case."

Before Felicity can come up with a good response, Steph is stood next to her.

Suddenly there is another, albeit quieter, crashing sound. Now closer to her bedroom door, she can also hear Oliver's muffled curse.

With wide eyes she looks at Steph and Jen, hoping against hope that they didn't hear that.

"Does your...ferret...also typically curse in, was that, Russian?" Steph questions her sardonically.

Felicity winces.

Busted.

They were definitely busted.

The question was just how badly. Can they keep the green secret?

Jen squeals in delight. "Aha, this is my chance to get proof that you are together!"

Jen, still in the living room, suddenly starts making her way to her bedroom door.

There aren't many options left now.

"Oliver, we are busted, hope you have some clothes on."

A last ditch warning, meaning, move your Arrow clothes from sight.

A second later, Jen reaches the bedroom door and pushes it open without any hesitation.

"Aha!" Jen is grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Worried about what she might've discovered, Felicity rushes forward and finds Oliver hidden behind her open cupboard door.

With a nonchalance that baffles Felicity, Oliver's head pokes around her cupboard door and asks, "Felicity, have you seen any of the T-shirts I keep in here?"

Felicity splutters in the background, glad that both Steph and Jen are focused on Oliver as she pulls all her stops to regain her composure. Oliver, looking so at ease in her bedroom, should not be sending the zings through her body that are clearly raising down her spine right this second.

Finally she is able to form words again. "Um, I washed them all after you kept crashing here last week." It's the plain truth and luckily does not contain any of the green secrets that she vowed to keep hidden from her friends.

"Oh, okay."

Without any further warning, Oliver closes her wardrobe. Only her reflexes, honed by working for a vigilante, see the end of a green, leathery garment getting flung into her closet as it closes.

You'd think she'd be used to it by now, but her eyes are still drawn to a deliciously topless Oliver in front of them all of a sudden, the cover of the wardrobe door now removed. Luckily he was at least wearing some sweat pants she kept in the cupboard, at least they would cover the wound.

From the corner of her eyes, she can see her friends are staring too

She looks at Oliver. His eyes are as incredibly blue as always but there is a hidden undercurrent to them. Is that apprehension? But why? His body is glorious after all.

Felicity feels puzzled.

Like a bolt of lightning, a sudden realisation rushes through her.

The scars.

Her eyes return to Oliver's.

And this time she can see not just the apprehension but also the insecurity in his gaze.

Oliver Queen, insecure.

That doesn't happen often.

For a second she can't wrap her mind around it.

But then she jump-starts, knowing he needs her now.

She rushes to his side, her arm going around his waist, so naturally, that she feels momentarily baffled at her own actions.

She squeezes him reassuringly, only belatedly realizing that her hands are resting directly on the scars from the shark bite.

Her gaze is re-drawn to the stares from Steph and Jen. What are they thinking?

Scrambling to get them out of this situation, that Oliver is clearly uncomfortable in, she tries to take charge of the situation.

"Your T-shirts should be in the washing room. I remember drying them but not placing them back in the cupboard."

Before anyone can reply, she gives Oliver's waist a tuck and is glad when he readily follows her into the room where she keeps her laundry.

Once there, she closes the door softly behind her, glad to have a chance to talk to Oliver alone for a minute, so they can get their stories straight.

"Sorry about that, my friends heard the first crash and went to investigate, the they heard you curse."

Oliver immediately shakes his head. "No, it's my fault, you'd think after years of experience I could sneak around without cursing."

"I should've realized you aren't quiet in the bedroom." Felicity just found Oliver's T-shirt, when what she said catches up with her.

With wide eyes and red tinged cheeks her gaze meets Oliver's.

Usually after one of her unintentional innuendos, he gives her a look of amusement. But tonight's look is frustratingly inscrutable. Why is he behaving so strangely tonight? What's going through his mind?

"You better not be having a quickie in the laundry room now!" The sudden voice of Steph has them startling back to reality and their more immediate problems.

Quickly Oliver takes the T-Shirt and puts it on.

They look at each other, clearly both uncomfortable talking about it, but both knowing there probably isn’t much they can say that wouldn’t reveal their crucial secret.

With simultaneous reassuring nods at each other, they once again confirm that they are on the same wavelength as the other, so they head out, as usual ready to solve a problem together by any means necessary.

“Are you still denying that you are together?” Steph immediately queries as Oliver and Felicity take a seat on the sofa, which is facing the one that Steph and Jen are already sat on.

Felicity is unsure what to say, she doesn’t want to have to pretend to be in a relationship with Oliver. That would hit a bit too close to the feelings that she spends most of the time ignoring the existence of.

Before she can decide what to do, Jen butts in. "You know, just officially for the record, what you did in Verdant yesterday, Oliver, was definitely not okay." She glares at Oliver before shifting her gaze to Felicity. "And you, Felicity, I never thought you'd be the kind of woman that would tolerate such behaviour."

Felicity feels stunned. She agrees with Jen in principle, but Oliver is not her boyfriend and on top of that, she knows how uncomfortable it makes Oliver having to pretend to be the guy he was before the island.

But Felicity isn't sure how to get them out of this situation. How to explain that they are not together and still have a believable excuse of why Oliver was in her bedroom. An excuse that doesn't involve their less than legal nightly activities.

Suddenly Oliver leans forward on his elbows and Felicity can see him subtly shifting his weight off the hurt thigh.

“We really are just friends, best friends, and in our case, I admit, we probably take that to a whole new level.” 

When Oliver pauses, Felicity looks at him in confusion, what is Oliver’s angle here?

Oliver takes a deep breath before continuing. “When I met Felicity, I was in a dark place."

Felicity can see how much it costs Oliver to speak so openly, so she grabs his hand in support.

Oliver gives her hand a gentle squeeze, which seems to help him to continue.

"And Felicity was the first person that made me feel like there is light again." Oliver turns to her now and speaks directly to Felicity. "You never had any expectations, like my family and friends did, who wanted Ollie back. And you never treated me like I'm supposedly better than others, like so many people in Starling do."

Oliver gives her a small smile and Felicity can feel her heart racing in her chest.

"You treated me completely normal, like just some other guy and over time, I learnt to rely on you and since then, you have always been there to pull me out of the darkness when I needed it."

Felicity is absolutely floored by the magnitude of Oliver's openness. At the same time she can tell that he is at the end of his rope now, feeling raw and on edge after revealing that much vulnerability, especially in front of her friends.

So she takes over for him. She squeezes his hand reassuringly and decides to address him first.

"And I'll always be here for you, Oliver, we are team, never forget that."

They share a look and Felicity can't help but feel that there is an electric undercurrent to it, or is that just wishful thinking?

They are drawn from there little bubble, by Jen speaking up quietly.

"I believe you, the emotion and dynamic between you too is so genuine." Jen glances from one to the other. "But at the same time your relationship is so deep, that from an outside point of view, it seems so hard to believe that you aren't more."

Steph nods in agreement. "Yes, you support each other exactly like a perfect couple does, so it seems really hard to believe that you are not."

Felicity looks stunned from one friend to the other. Did they really come across like that to other people?

Bravely, Felicity dares to look at Oliver, who looks as stunned as she feels.

When their gazes meet, there is no unfortunate innuendo from Felicity and no sidestepping quip from Oliver. They just smile at each other, maybe a tad sheepishly.

"There is one thing that confused me though." This time it's Steph's voice that draws them back to the other occupants in the room.

"What's that?", Felicity warily queries.

"Oliver mentioned that people in Starling treat him differently and we had that impression too, both an the restaurant and Verdant." Steph looks back and forth between Oliver and Felicity. "Why is that?"

This time, Felicity can't help but chuckle as she looks at Oliver and sees him suppressing his own amusement.

Looks like the have to finally come clean about some of the secrets they kept so far, but only the ones that actually the whole of Starling knows anyway.

"Where shall we start?" Felicity is happy to hear the mirth in Oliver's voice, after the slightly heavier topic before.

So Felicity grins back at him. "How about we go chronically reverse and start with the fact that everyone in Starling knows that you had been stranded on an deserted island for 5 years."

Oliver lets out a startled laugh. "See, that's what I mean, you are the only one I know who brings that up causally."

"Wait, really? I figured Felicity was joking." Jen looks at them wide-eyed. "You were really stranded for 5 years?"

Oliver returns her gaze. "Yes, I returned a little over a year ago."

Both Steph and Jen seem speechless, so Felicity decides to continue. “Yep, and because he is ridiculously rich, the news of his return were hyped up even more.”

“Oh, don’t remind me, the reporters were like vultures. One even tried to climb the walls surrounding the house.” 

Felicity sighs in exasperation at Oliver calling the manor a house.

“Oliver, how many times do I have to tell you, it’s not a house, it’s a frigging manor.”

Oliver chuckles at Felicity’s exasperated expression and concedes.

“I guess it is, my father did buy it to impress, back when QC first got successful.”

The mention of QC seems to shake Steph from her stupor. “Wait, QC as in the company Felicity works for?”

“Yep, Queen Consolidated, Oliver is the CEO now actually.” Felicity happily explains, having more fun than she probably should.

“Don’t remind me of that during my free time, I’d still rather manage Verdant.” Felicity is amused at Oliver’s easy-going banter, she can’t think of a time where she has seen him this relaxed.

This time it’s Jen that speaks up. “Wait, the reason we got in so easily is because you used to manage the place?”

Oliver grins sheepishly. “I actually own it, opened it last year.”

“And that’s why you saw Oliver acting like he did yesterday, within the club he thinks he has to portray to be a playboy douche bag.” Felicity rolls her eyes.

“Yea, I’m sorry you saw me like that yesterday, after the last 6 years, I’m truly not like that anymore, but the public still believes that I am.”

Steph and Jen look at them wide-eyed and speechless.

“I think we broke them.”

“Looks like it.”

They smile at each other in mirth and to share the victory of their distraction strategy being successful. Their true secret once more safely obscured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating for a while whether to stop the chapter or not once it got around to revealing some secrets..I hope it isn't to anti-climatic.


	5. A Different Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we follow Steph’s POV, who tries to reconcile that their new friend Oliver is also Oliver Queen, CEO, billionaire and celebrity of Starling City.

Steph steps out of the large limo and glances up at the high rise in front of her, the headquarters of a multi-billion dollar company. Jen comes to stand next to her, while Mr. Diggle, their driver, hands over the keys of the limo to an attendant who will park the car.

How did she end up in this kind of life?

A little laugh escapes her at that thought.

“What’s up?” Jen immediately picks up on her mood.

“I just can’t believe that our Felicity lives like this on a regular basis now.” Steph grins at Jen.

“When we first met Oliver, I never would’ve guessed that he is a billionaire. I always thought those super rich guys are all arrogant and would never be caught dead eating take-away out of cardboard boxes.”

Before Steph can reply, Mr. Diggle arrives next to them. “Are you ready to head in?”

Both women nod and Mr. Diggle leads the way through the main entrance of the building. The entrance hall is large and open with people bustling every which way, giving the appearance of organized chaos.

Even though it's quite late and most people seem to be leaving, Steph sees a queue at the service desk and resigns herself to having to wait in line for quite a bit. But instead Mr. Diggle simply walks past the queue and the only comment this elicits from the security guard is a respectful nod towards Mr. Diggle.

Jen and Steph glance at each other in surprise but happily follow.

A handful of people are patiently waiting for the next elevator and again Steph is surprised when Mr. Diggle simply walks past them and the first few elevators, just to stop in front of the last one. With a swipe of a key card, Mr. Diggle calls the elevator, which immediately pings and opens its doors.

As they enter, Steph realizes that the crowd at the elevators are still waiting patiently, but some seem to curiously glance in their direction. The doors slide close and only then does Steph see that Mr. Diggle has actually pressed the button for the highest floor. Steph gives herself a mental shake and thinks, _right, the CEO office would be on the highest floor_. Why did she keep forgetting that Oliver actually owns the entire building?

“Mr. Diggle, I’ve never been to a gala before, is there any etiquette rules that I should be aware of?” Jen addresses Mr. Diggle and Steph is surprised to notice that Jen actually seems nervous. Felicity had texted them both this morning, that Oliver has decided to attend a gala last minute. Felicity apparently typically attends such events with Oliver and Oliver had offered that Steph and Jen could come along as well. 

Mr. Diggle gives Jen a kind smile. “First, just Diggle or Dig is fine. As for the gala, there are no special rules, but if you are unsure, just follow Felicity’s lead. She was also very nervous the first few times, but she handles these events like a pro now.”

Steph lightly shakes her head. Felicity used to be the shyest of them all and now Steph and Jen can follow her lead at a high society gala dinner? It is crazy how much Felicity has changed and Steph can’t wait to see her friend in action. She is so happy for Felicity and the confidence boost being around Oliver seems to have given her.

The elevator pings again and the doors slide open at the highest floor in the building. Steph can immediately tell that the location of the elevator was meant to impress. Curiously she notes that their elevator is actually the only one that exists up here. But she is more drawn towards the panoramic view of Star City that the floor-to-ceiling windows across the elevator display.

Diggle gives both Steph and Jen a moment to absorb the view, before addressing them again. “Let’s head to Mr. Queen’s office.”

They seem to be the only ones on this floor and as they approach the CEO’s office, Steph thinks that's probably a good idea because the walls seem to be made of glass, giving all three of them a clear view.

Until now, Oliver and Mr. Queen were kind of two separate people in her head. But now, their new friend Oliver is suddenly the same person that sits in a CEO’s office of a multi-billion dollar company that carries his name.

Although looking at Oliver, she realises that despite the location, the person in front of her is still the Oliver they got to know.

She sees Oliver in his office chair, but with his feet propped up on his desk, his jacket carelessly discarded on a nearby sofa and the sleeves of his business shirt rolled up as he stares at the papers in his hand while he absentmindedly runs his other hand through his hair that is sticking up in every possible direction.

Steph grins at Jen, Oliver looks exactly like the guy they met eating Chinese take-out with them, despite the swanky office he is currently in and even if he is wearing a suit and sits on an expensive leather chair, multiple stories above all others in Starling City.

“Huh, where is Felicity?” Jen stops and looks at Diggle questioningly.

Diggle stops as well and throws her an amused grin as he points to the floor next to Oliver’s desk.

Coming to a stop as well, Steph follows Diggle’s line of vision and discovers two pale feet wearing panda flats sticking out of the side of Oliver’s desk.

What is Felicity doing?

Before Steph can contemplate this any further, she hears Felicity’s voice. “I need a 2 centimetre velcro strip.”

Steph sees Oliver’s hand immediately moving from his hair to a box placed close to him. Out of the mess of velcro strips in front of him, Oliver grabs one without his eyes leaving the paper he is reading. Efficiently, he passes the strip on to Felicity who shouts a happy, “Thanks!” at him.

Dig strides forward and into the office. “Felicity, are you cable managing the computers again?”

With some amusement, Steph sees both Oliver and Felicity startle at the sudden voice. Immediately, Oliver rolls his chair back and straightens up, as he helps Felicity up to come stand next to him.

“Dig, you are back already, didn’t we say we are leaving for the gala at six?” Oliver throws a questioning look at Diggle.

“Yep, and it’s six and I see neither of you are dressed for the gala.” Steph can’t see Diggle’s face, but she can hear the amused grin in his voice.

“Wait, when did it get that late?” Felicity throws a confused look at Oliver and Steph can’t help but think, how cute they look together.

The amusement in Digg’s voice is back. “Well, it doesn’t matter, we don’t need to set off quite yet, I do plan in your inability to keep track of time at work.”

This time Felicity and Oliver smile at each other sheepishly. Steph really has never met two people who are so close but yet so clueless about the depth each feels for the other.

She is about to step into the office and announce her presence, but before she can do so both Oliver and Felicity get started in a flurry of activity and all Steph can do is watch on in amusement.

Felicity clears away her utensils which she used for cable management, something Steph is still very familiar with from when they where kids and Felicity always insisted on keeping the computer cables neat.

Meanwhile, Oliver disappears into another room, only to come back out with a long garment bag, just as Felicity finishes cleaning up.

Felicity takes the garment bag from Oliver and heads towards another door. As she opens it and disappears inside, Steph can quickly recognise that it is a bathroom. Oliver again disappears into the other room, which she guesses is some kind of walk-in wardrobe.

With both Felicity and Oliver gone, Diggle turns back to Steph and Jen. “Feel free to have a seat on the sofa while we wait.”

Jen immediately bounces over, while Steph follows her. As they sit down, Jen questions, “Aren’t you going to sit as well, Diggle?”

“No, that’s against the protocol while I’m on the job.”

Jen looks at him in surprise. “And what exactly is that job?”

“I’m Mr. Queen’s bodyguard and driver.” And indeed, Steph notes how Diggle is stood straight and stoic next to the office door, looking exactly how she would imagine a bodyguard would look, the biceps of his huge arms stretching the fabric of his suit.

“Oliver needs a bodyguard, seriously?” Steph can’t help but agree with Jen.

“Mr. Queen is a high profile person in this city and therefore it is prudent for him to have personal protection.”

Steph is surprised about Diggle’s formal language, earlier she had the impression that the relationship between Diggle and Oliver is quite warm.

Before she can comment on it however, Oliver reappears from the other room. He is now dressed in a different suit, although Steph can’t tell the difference between this one and the previous one except for the change in colour. A bow tie is carelessly slung across his shoulders while he fiddles with a cufflink.

“Hi Steph, hi Jen.” Oliver gives them a quick smile, before turning to Diggle. “Dig, feel free to relax when it’s just us.”

Steph sees Dig nod and she can’t help but feel happy that Oliver so casually includes her and Jen in their group of “just us”. As he stands in an impressive office, wearing clearly expensive clothes, Steph has trouble reconciling the very two different parts of Oliver. On one hand, he was just the guy hanging out at Felicity’s. On the other hand, they had learnt that he is obscenely rich and that others seems to be treating him differently because of it. Now for the first time, they actually see him in an impressive office, where they just learnt that he is in need of a bodyguard. It is actually quite confusing.

With the cufflink finally in place, Oliver turns away from them again, heading towards the other door that Felicity disappeared behind.

“Felicity, are you ready?”

“Yep, can you help me with the zipper?”

Without any pause, Oliver heads into the bathroom and the door closes behind him.

Steph immediately looks at Jen.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” Steph can only nod helplessly at Jen.

How can those two not realise that they are basically married already but without any of the romantic benefits?

“They really are hopeless, aren’t they?” Diggle has relaxed his posture and casually crossed his arms. Steph can’t help but think that she is seeing the true Diggle for the first time.

“How long has this been going on?” Jen asks Diggle.

Diggle gives a short laugh. “It’s been months and no matter what I say to either of them, both are fully convinced the other could never like them as more than friends.” So Steph was right, Diggle seems to be quite close with not just Oliver, but Felicity as well.

Jen groans in frustration. “How can they be so blind?”

Before anyone can reply, the bathroom door opens again and Oliver lets Felicity enter the room ahead of him.

“Wow, you look gorgeous.” Steph immediately compliments and gets up to walk closer to Felicity who is wearing a long emerald green dress that seems to slightly sparkle golden as the light hits it.

Felicity smiles at her in thanks and eyes gliding towards Jen, she returns the compliment. “You both look really great as well.”

After their short notice invitation, Steph and Jen snuck out of the workshop earlier today for an impromptu shopping spree, picking up two dresses for the gala dinner. Given the time constraints, Steph thinks they did pretty well.

“Felicity, I put your phone in the purse, do you need anything else, apart from the usual?” Oliver walks over to Felicity with a purse that perfectly matches the dress.

Apart from the usual? What does Felicity typically keep in her purse and why is Oliver aware of that? Isn't that usually something women keep quiet about?

“Nope, that’s it, thanks.” But instead of taking the purse from Oliver, Felicity proceeds to tie Oliver’s bow tie as he patiently waits and smiles down at her.

Steph shares an exasperated look again with Jen and Dig. At this rate, they would have to plan an intervention.

Once Felicity is satisfied with the bow tie, she holds onto Oliver’s arm and nods at the room at large, “Okay, let’s set off.”

The group heads to the elevator together and as it is moving them downstairs, Steph sees how Diggle subtly touches Oliver’s shoulder. Oliver throws Diggle a confused look until Diggle rolls his eyes and points at the purse Oliver is still holding.

Diggle seems to have noticed Steph’s look and shoots her a quick grin.

By the time the elevator comes to a halt, Felicity is holding her own purse and there is suddenly a respectable distance between her and Oliver.

Steph looks at their faces and she can tell that something changed. Gone are the easy going smiles, instead both Felicity and Oliver seem to have slipped on a stoic mask that didn’t let their real emotions shine through. Steph wonders what that is about.

As soon as the elevator opens, Oliver strides out. His steps are sure and confident and Steph can see how he immediately draws the attention of everyone in the entrance hall.

The organized chaos that Steph experienced on their way up comes to a complete standstill as everyone stops and looks at their group.

Steph immediately feels uncomfortable and wonders if any strands of her hair have fallen out of her expertly arranged bun and whether her dress is still correctly in place. She can feel Jen shift uncomfortably next to her as well. Luckily, they are both at the back of the group and everyone is interested in Oliver, rather than them.

As their group makes their way to the exit, Steph watches the confident strides of Oliver and Felicity, as well as Diggle. No emotion shows on their faces and as far as she can tell none of them are uncomfortable with the attention and Steph marvels of how confident Felicity is. Now she understands why their demeanour had changed so suddenly during the elevator ride, these are masks that they present to the public, this is their way of dealing with the attention. Steph thinks it’s crazy that they have to deal with something like that, just because other people are so curious.

As they step outside into the sunlight, Steph is relieved when they can immediately escape the stares as they climb back into the limo that brought them here. As soon as the doors of the limo close, she can see how the organized chaos slowly resumes, now that their CEO has left the building.

Steph shakes her head slightly. How can they do this everyday? Being scrutinized so closely just for leaving a building? How can this confident but cool seeming person turn around and become the relaxed Oliver that they got to know?

Steph looks over at Felicity and Oliver, who are now again completely relaxed. Felicity is pointing out something on her tablet while Oliver leans closer to get a better look. They seem completely at ease in the back of this expensive limo where Steph is constantly worried that she might break something.

Felicity casually leans over Oliver to reach a little fridge that Steph hadn't even noticed before. (Who keeps a fridge in a car? Steph always thought that was just a thing done in movies.) "Either of you want a drink?” Felicity smiles tentatively at Steph and Jen, and Steph thinks that Felicity understands what they must be feeling and is trying to get them to relax.

Steph takes a deep breath and wills her body to relax. They only have a short car ride after all, before Jen and Steph would be attending their first gala dinner ever, courtesy of the invitation extended by the CEO of QC, heir to the Queen fortune and well-known celebrity of Starling City, who they simply know as their new friend Oliver. It really is quite overwhelming.


	6. Gala Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gala does not quite go as planned, but what else is new. Felicity is certain, between Oliver and her childhood friends, she will have grey hair at the end of the week for sure.

“The friggin’ Arrow, Felicity!”

“Where is Oliver anyway?”

Felicity sighs at her friends exclamation. And the evening had started out so well.

They were slightly late, in typical but, since his CEO status, slightly improved Oliver Queen fashion.

Steph and Jen were understandably nervous about walking the red carpet, but once it was over they had wide smile’s on their faces and exclaimed how ridiculous it all is. But that’ll of course not stop them reciting the experience for the rest of their lives.

Oliver pulled off his charming billionaire spiel, chatting with investors, city officials and any one else who crossed their path. Glad to have Steph and Jen along, Felicity hung back this time to chat with them, rather than having to throw fake smiles and false platitudes at Oliver’s interlocutors. With her friends knowing some of Oliver's secrets now, they could share conspiratorial looks and even the odd eye roll when no one else was looking, whenever Oliver’s act became particularly obnoxious.

Sooner than they expected, it was time for a ridiculously fancy six course meal on large plates with tiny portions. Even though Steph kept sighing at the small portion sizes and Jen kept getting confused about which utensil to use when, they both assured Felicity that they were having a good time.

After dinner, they had to sit through some truly boring talks from the host of the gala as well as a few other invited speakers, but then the time Felicity was waiting for had finally arrived. The string quartet started playing and it was time to dance. The actual event of their mission had arrived.

Slowly couples began to drift towards the dance floor, until finally Oliver also spotted their target leading his wife onto the dance floor.

Sharing one conspiratorial look, Felicity gave Oliver a slight nod. Everything was ready and in place, it was show time.

Rising from his chair, Oliver held out his hand to Felicity. “May I have this dance, Felicity?” 

Arrogant playboy smirk firmly in place, just in case anyone was looking. Felicity barely managed to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at that smirk, she much preferred the easy going grin Oliver sported whenever he asked her to dance when they were in private.

Resigning herself to their roles, Felicity also stood up and agreed with a slight giggle in her voice.

“If you’ll excuse us momentarily, ladies.” Oliver addresses Steph and Jen before spinning around, leading Felicity onto the dance floor in the usual confident and cocky stride he has in place when in public.

The last thing Felicity sees, is Steph indeed rolling her eyes at Oliver’s antics and Jen giving her a thumbs up.

Once they reach the dance floor, she can feel Oliver tense up, going fully into Arrow mode, even though the insincere Oliver Queen smile is still the only emotion he shows outwardly.

“You should’ve been an actor.” Felicity quietly murmurs without really moving her lips as Oliver pulls her close.

But Oliver just gives her a long look and Felicity knows that he would usually crack a smile at a comment like that, but right now his sole focus is the mission.

So Felicity remains quiet, as they slowly dance their way to their target. With some easy words and a borderline flirtatious comment towards their target’s wife, Oliver successfully lifted the target's phone from his pocket.

As unobtrusively as possible, Oliver and Felicity dance to the other end of the dance floor, stepping off into a shadowy corner as soon as they are sure no one is glancing their way.

With quick and sure taps, Felicity copies the entire phone. They can go through the data later, but for now they only need the smart home app, that will generate the pass code to gain entry to their target’s home. Together with the fake retinal scan Felicity had already prepared based on ARGUS quality pictures of the guy, Oliver is now all set for the second part of their mission.

Once a new song starts, Oliver quickly leads Felicity back to the couple. Hoping Oliver judged the situation correctly, Felicity watches as he asks for permission to dance with their target’s wife. She accepts with a flattered look and her husband grins, happy to see that someone as young and infamous as Oliver Queen is interested in his wife. 

So Oliver did judge the situation correctly, Felicity muses, although she isn’t really surprised. Even though Oliver is no longer the playboy douche-bag anymore that he still liked to portray, he still has the _skill set_ if needed.

Before Felicity can drift off and start to think about what else that skill set might include, she gives herself a mental shake. _Focus on the mission, Felicity._

Luckily, as also predicted by Oliver, their target immediately asks Felicity for a dance as well. Putting her own acting skills to use, she pretends to enjoy the dance while internally freaking out about the kind of horrible person she is forced to share a dance with. Nonetheless, by the time the song finally ends, she has successfully slipped the phone back where it belongs and she manages to thank their target, with a hopefully sincere looking smile, for the dance.

With one more look passing between Felicity and Oliver across the dance floor, Felicity heads back to her friends, while Oliver disappears through a side door. Time for some good old breaking and entering.

But what was supposed to be a routine mission, turned out to be anything but.

When she hears Oliver via the comms shouting out in pain, she immediately excuses herself to the bathroom.

As soon as she is a few steps away from their table, she quietly whispers Oliver's name through the comms, only to have to realize that the connection seems to be broken.

Worried as she is, she doesn't notice that she is being followed when she steps out onto a vast balcony next to the dining hall.

Finally she thinks she managed to re-establish the connection and immediately asks, "Arrow, do you copy?"

There is sadly still no reply from Oliver, but she clearly now hears a gasp from behind her.

Jen and Steph had followed her onto the balcony.

"What are you doing here?" Felicity wants to mentally kick herself for being so careless.

"What are _we_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here! You said you were going to the bathroom and instead we hear you trying to contact the Arrow!" Jen exclaims in disbelief.

Before Felicity can come up with a reply, Steph continues. "You _live_ in Starling, you should know how dangerous he is! Even in Vegas we have heard of him killing!"

Felicity was just about to reply and defend Oliver, when she sees movement across the street.

Turning around, Felicity has a direct line of sight towards the penthouse flat Oliver is currently in. And sure enough, there he is, zip lining like a badass from an action movie, going from the penthouse building to a slightly lower one next to it.

"Oh thank god, he's made it out."

"Felicity? You are seriously worried about that guy?"

“The friggin’ Arrow, Felicity!”

“Where is Oliver anyway?”

Steph's comment makes Felicity realise all over again how close they are right now to revealing their most important secret and she still doesn't know if Oliver is truly alright.

"Um, let's table the discussion for now. Oliver actually just texted me, he managed to corner the last investor he wanted to talk to and asked if we are ready to leave."

Steph and Jen acquiesce for now and together they head to the front of the building where their limo is already waiting, but no Oliver in sight.

Felicity encourages her friends to get comfy inside already, while she remains outside, waiting for Oliver.

Finally he appears, heading towards the limo from the completely wrong direction compared to the gala exit and Felicity is glad that Steph and Jen seem to be distracted, quietly whispering to each other. She is worried what they are whispering about, but at least they didn't see that Oliver clearly did not come out of the gala building.

As Oliver reaches Felicity, she quickly realises that something is up. It seems to take Oliver every effort to appear to walk unhindered.

Quickly she slips her arms around his waist to support him and together they maneuver into the limo.

As their driver sets off, Oliver visibly slumps into his seat and so even Steph and Jen notice something is up.

"What happened to you, Oliver?" Jen asks with concern in her voice.

Oliver attempts a jovial grin, but it looks more like a grimace to Felicity. "Don't worry about me, that last scotch I had might've been one too many."

The excuse sounds so hollow to Felicity, but it routinely works, so she hopes it also will this time.

Steph looks at him critically. "Seriously, Oliver, stop pretending, we know your secret now."

Felicity immediately sits up straighter and glances with wide panicked eyes at Oliver.

Did they connect the dots? Oliver was obviously gone in the exact same time span he Arrow was out and about. And her friends had discovered that when she carelessly tried to contact Oliver as the Arrow in the middle of a balcony.

Oliver is silently asking her, what should they do now?

But Felicity just can't come up with anything.

"Yea, it's completely obvious why you disappeared after you danced with Felicity." Jen seems to confirm their worst assumptions.

Felicity is ready to start talking about anything that comes to mind to try divert their suspicions. But before she can start what is sure to be a long winded babble, Oliver squeezes her hand and calmly asks, "so what is your theory?"

Steph turns to look at him. "Well, it's obvious that you're in love with Felicity", Felicity indignantly splutters, but is completely ignored by Steph, "and every time things get too close, too real, like dancing with her, you pull back scared."

It's Jen's turn to look at Oliver now. "But seriously, Oliver, you don't have to worry, Felicity knows exactly what she is signing up for and even if you might bring more baggage to a relationship than most, she can totally handle it. She is just as madly in love with you."

Felicity expects some indignant stuttering from Oliver as well, so when she hears none, she worriedly glances over at him.

Oliver is looking at Jennifer, seemingly gobsmacked, but Felicity doesn't understand why that is. "I…", Oliver starts to respond but trails off.

Taking pity on him and feeling it's her fault he is put in such an uncomfortable spot, Felicity tries to deflect their attention by talking about the gala.

Her friends take the subject change in stride, but the glint in Steph's eyes and the tilt of Jen's head, tell her it's only a temporary reprieve.

Still, they manage the rest of the ride to Jen's and Steph's hotel in pleasant conversation. Although Felicity grows increasingly worried about Oliver being uncharacteristically quiet. If it was just their team, she wouldn't be worried. But even around Steph and Jen, he always kept up a lively, non-broody persona so far.

Rerunning that thought in her head, it actually baffles her how many personas Oliver juggles on a day to day basis.

She is drawn out of her musings when the car stops next to the hotel.

Steph looks at them expectantly. "You guys up for a nightcap in our room?"

Felicity watches with concern as Oliver tries to focus on Steph's face and while it is barely audible, she can still hear a slur in his voice when he replies. "Thanks, Steph, but I'm beat for the night."

Steph nods in acceptance. Felicity notices with some relief that Steph apparently didn't notice anything wrong with Oliver. But Felicity knows how uncharacteristic his behaviour is and is increasingly worried about him. What happened out there tonight while she had no audio connection to him?

Steph now turns to Felicity. "What about you, Felicity? Ready for another girl's evening?"

Felicity immediately knows that is the last thing she wants. She definitely wants to stay with Oliver, to make sure he is alright. She scrambles for an excuse, but before she can catch herself, she unwillingly replies, "Thanks, but Oliver promised to show me his wine collection tonight, so I'll be sleeping at his."

Oliver doesn't reply anything, but she can just imagine his incredulous look and she doesn't dare look at him after what she just insinuated.

The conspiratory and knowing looks of Steph and Jen are bad enough. With one last grin, they both exit the car, Steph throwing one last lascivious look at her, while Jen murmurs, "Atta girl, go get him", as they finally leave.

Hesitantly, Felicity turns to Oliver, worried about his reaction.

But Oliver just stares at her and Felicity she must have misheard Oliver's quiet muttering of, "you are so beautiful, 'Licity", because surely he did not just say that.

Unnerved by his behaviour since he got back, Felicity firmly grabs Oliver's forearms, and insistently asks, "Oliver, what happened when you were out?"

Oliver sags into the seat and with a slur reminiscent of a drunk person, he replies, "I might have been injected with a mild version of Vertigo."

"Oh frack, Oliver, why didn't you say something sooner."

Felicity is frantic with worry now.

Despite his current state, Oliver immediately catches on and gently grabs both her forearms in return.

"Hey, Felicity, don't worry, I'll be fine. I took some herbs already and right now I just feel like something between slightly drunk and hungover."

Felicity takes a deep breath, surprised that Oliver is so openly talking about how he feels. It's very unlike him, but if he does feel like slightly drunk, it could be explained by lowered inhibitions.

"Okay, but I want to make sure you are truly alright, so please let me stay with you tonight."

Felicity pauses but then she realises how that could potentially be misunderstood and immediately continues.

"I don't mean in your bed or anything, just close by, you know, in case you need me, I know you wouldn't want to sleep in the same.."

Felicity trails off as she notices Oliver's look. "I'd be happy to share my bed with you, 'licity."

Right, slightly drunk, so the butterflies Felicity feels in her stomach are completely unwarranted.

As Felicity is still wrestling to get her emotions under control, she notices that Oliver seems to have nodded off. Again very uncharacteristic of him, falling asleep while someone else, their driver, is around, but understandable after what he told Felicity. So she tries not to worry as she lays a hand on his chest, so she can continually to make sure he keeps breathing evenly.

After some time, they finally pull up to the mansion and Felicity dismisses the driver with a boldness she didn't really feel. It was one thing to act on Oliver's behalf at the company, but something completely different when it was such a private matter. Still, the driver seems to take her at her word without demanding to speak to Oliver, so she will count that as a win.

Once they are alone, Felicity manages to wake Oliver up relatively quickly. She helps him out of the car and arm in arm they make their way to the entrance.

Halfway Oliver suddenly stops and gazes up at the stars.

"Oliver, are you okay?"

Without looking back down, he replies, "The stars are beautiful and on the island they always reminded me of home because I could find the same constellations as at home. It was comforting and gave me hope."

Felicity is completely floored at Oliver's honesty. Of course she doesn't want him drugged, but she could get used to this openness.

She startles out of her thoughts as she sees Oliver's face turn down to look at her, eyes uncharacteristically bright.

"You are even more beautiful though, F'licity. Since I came back to Starling, you have become the one I look at to feel at home and comforted and hopeful."

Felicity's heart is beating fast now and the butterflies from earlier are back a hundred fold. She can't believe he just said this to her. Despite her mouth being completely dry, Felicity manages to softly reply, "Oh, Oliver."

Suddenly his demeanour seems to shift and nearly jovially but still with some difficulty, he says, "C'mon, I promised you we'd share a bed tonight."

Oliver starts walking towards the entrance again, still with slightly unsteady feet, so Felicity immediately rushes to support him.

 _Oh boy, this is going to be a long night_ , she thinks to herself.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd be happy to hear what you think, shall I continue writing this? I have a second chapter nearly finished. After that I'd also be happy to hear any other ideas that could be incorporated into the story. Thanks for reading!


End file.
